South Sea, Marco Kingdom:
This is a member state of the World Government, one of the top-tier kingdoms in the South Sea. Even in this era of rising pirates, Marco Kingdom has managed to firmly protect its territory against the onslaught of pirates, maintaining the stability of the nation.
However, today Marco Kingdom faced a tremendous calamity, as the Beasts Pirates from the New World had arrived! "Ah, the pirates are here, run away!!"
"Damn it, aren't those beasts? How can they obey human commands?"
"What is that thing in the sky? Is it a dragon? So terrifying!"
"Beasts Pirates, isn't that the infamous pirate crew from the New World? How could they appear in our South Sea?"
"…"
With the arrival of the Beasts Pirates, the entire kingdom fell into endless panic.
The army that had been able to withstand countless South Sea pirates crumbled like bubbles under the assault of the Beasts Pirates.
Especially under the impact of Kaido of the Beasts' Conqueror's Haki, the entire army nearly collapsed.
The reinforcements that came afterward also suffered defeat at the hands of the Beasts Pirates.
On the ships of the Beasts Pirates, numerous ferocious beasts charged down. Each of these beasts was at least three meters tall, including fierce tigers, strong wolves, elephants, and lions—there was a wide variety of ferocious creatures.
All these beasts were controlled by one of the Three Calamities of the Beasts Pirates, Beast Disaster Stien Good, who had consumed the Paramecia-type Beast Taming Fruit, allowing him to communicate with and command the beasts, thus leading to the current chaotic situation.
"Gahaha, Stien, well done! You truly are the Beast Disaster under my command!"
Kaido, transformed into the Azure Dragon, circled in the sky, watching the battlefield below, especially the sight of the beasts charging, which thrilled him immensely.
Stien had been taken in by him a year ago, and Kaido was very fond of his unique Paramecia fruit ability. He even actively helped Stien search for Beast Island to capture more ferocious beasts.
Now seeing the results, he felt that his expectations had not been disappointed.
At this moment, as Marco Kingdom was on the brink of collapse, a figure standing on a carpet flew out from the Marco Palace. The carpet—no, it should be called a Flying Carpet—carried him into the air, facing the Azure Dragon Kaido above.
"Kaido!!"
"Get out of my country!"
Edmundo Paredes shouted angrily, raising his hands and then forcefully pressing them down.
"Sky Covering!"
Suddenly, a massive black cloth appeared in the sky, large enough to cover the sun, shimmering with a metallic sheen, completely shrouding Kaido above.
The black cloth descended rapidly like a cage, seemingly aiming to capture the hundred-meter-long Azure Dragon Kaido! "Gahaha, are you the strongest of this fruit? Then come and die!"
Kaido had not forgotten what Li Yuan had said earlier, so the first place he aimed to conquer was the Marco Kingdom, which had a strong presence.
"Destructive Wind!!!"
Kaido opened his dragon mouth, and dozens of wind blades erupted from it.
"Riiip!!"
"Riiip!!"
The dozens of wind blades shot into the sky, easily tearing apart the descending massive black cloth.
In an instant, the Sky Covering black cloth was shredded into countless pieces, falling from the sky.
"What!!"
Seeing this scene, Edmundo's pupils constricted. He himself was a user of the Paramecia-type Cloth-Cloth Fruit, and the cloth he created was harder than steel. To see it so easily torn apart was unimaginable; he could only imagine what would happen if those wind blades hit him! "Is this the great pirate of the New World? But even so, don't think I'll back down!"
After recovering from his shock, Edmundo immediately regained control of the black cloth that Kaido had shredded.
"Cutting!"
The shredded cloth began to spin rapidly like airplane propellers, all of them rushing toward Kaido.
"Shhh!!!"
The pieces of cloth sliced toward Kaido's Azure Dragon body, the extreme rotation granting them immense cutting damage. However, when the pieces of cloth struck Kaido's dragon body, they only managed to create small cuts on his dragon scales, with drops of dragon blood oozing from the wounds.
"Gahaha, that just tickles me!!"
"Heat Breath!!!"
Kaido laughed heartily, gathering immense heat in his dragon mouth, then unleashing it toward Edmundo. The massive dragon breath, carrying extreme heat, surged down.
"Oh no!"
Edmundo's eyes narrowed, and he immediately abandoned the control of the black cloth to continue attacking Kaido, instead quickly maneuvering his Flying Carpet to evade Kaido's dragon breath.
However, while Edmundo initially dodged the dragon breath, it was not stationary. As Kaido's mouth shifted, Edmundo was ultimately caught by the dragon breath.
"Black Shield!!"
Edmundo exerted all his strength to create layer upon layer of black cloth, forming a thick black shield, which was also covered with Armament Haki.
When the dragon breath struck the black shield, the Black Shield temporarily blocked the intense heat.
But the dragon breath contained terrifying impact, instantly sending Edmundo flying from the air to the ground, even the Flying Carpet beneath him could not withstand that force.
Edmundo was blasted down to the ground by the dragon breath, and the most terrifying part was that the black shield melted under the continuous assault of the dragon breath, and Edmundo was hit directly, crashing into the ground.
"Cough cough cough!!!"
After the dragon breath ended, Edmundo crawled out of the deep pit in a disheveled state, blood spilling from his mouth as he coughed several times, his clothes burned away and his skin and muscles exposed.
However, he did not pay much attention to his injuries, his gaze fixed firmly on Kaido in the sky.
And Kaido did not disappoint him; just after the dragon breath, dozens of wind blades, each over ten meters long, rushed down toward Edmundo.
As the battle with Kaido continued, Edmundo's injuries increased, and his stamina gradually depleted. In less than five minutes, he could no longer even get up.
"Gahaha, you're quite good. Are you interested in becoming my subordinate? Once you become my subordinate, you will be the Fourth Calamity of the Beasts Pirates, named Cloth Calamity!"
Kaido looked down at Edmundo from above.
Edmundo's strength had earned Kaido's recognition; at the very least, Edmundo was stronger than the Three Calamities under Kaido, which was why Kaido wanted to recruit him.
(End of this chapter)